Party Size Limit

[dichebach]

My understanding is that party size limit is shaped by a number of factors:
1. Clan Tier
2. Steward skill of the parties "Quartermaster" (which by default is the player character in their party or the NPC party leader in their parties, but can have an NPC assigned to it in the players party)
3. Leadership? I thought leadership only impacted party morale, but some commentary suggests it has some influence on party size limit
4. Various perks (some in Steward skill others in other skills too though, e.g., I recall one that gives +5 party size which I think was from Endurance?)

So here are my questions: If I am using the older brother as my Quartermaster have his INT at about 7 and his Steward skill with five focus points, is there any real point in my player character developing Steward? There is no stacking of player leader Steward skill on top of Quartermaster, right?

[Panthaz89]

leaderships last perk adds a lot to the party limit also one of the other perks adds like +10.

[GIJoe597]

Originally posted by dichebach:

...here are my questions: If I am using the older brother as my Quartermaster have his INT at about 7 and his Steward skill with five focus points, is there any real point in my player character developing Steward? There is no stacking of player leader Steward skill on top of Quartermaster, right?

No point other than your personal preference. I prefer to have my character be the one dictating party number. This is because I like my family members to be out leading their own parties to increase their skills. In the odd instance I may have a family member in my party, if I happen to let them lead one of the missions, I will loose their quartermaster bonus when they leave to do the mission. This could impact my current party and force me to loose troops.

No, the skills do not stack between characters allowing you more troops.

[dichebach]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

Originally posted by dichebach:

...here are my questions: If I am using the older brother as my Quartermaster have his INT at about 7 and his Steward skill with five focus points, is there any real point in my player character developing Steward? There is no stacking of player leader Steward skill on top of Quartermaster, right?

No point other than your personal preference. I prefer to have my character be the one dictating party number. This is because I like my family members to be out leading their own parties to increase their skills. In the odd instance I may have a family member in my party, if I happen to let them lead one of the missions, I will loose their quartermaster bonus when they leave to do the mission. This could impact my current party and force me to loose troops.

No, the skills do not stack between characters allowing you more troops.

Okay, so question for you on the "let others lead parties" approach:

It seems like there is effectively ZERO control over what other parties do? I suppose if you are at war with other clans then they will engage those enemies, but otherwise? Do they just roam around engaging bandit parties?

Maybe I'm just totally missing out on functionality here, but, it seems to me that this is the most serious deficiency in the game as it stands: unless they are called into an "Army" NPC parties (setting aside the caravans) just do whatever they want? I've even heard people say that they don't seem very responsive to being called into armies?

Like . . . I would have expected at least some capacity to give the party leaders some guideline for how to operate other than juts "Defensive/Offensive/Neutral."

[GIJoe597]

You can give them a stance in Party Settings, Default/Aggressive/Neutral. Hover mouse over to see what each does. But, I do not notice much difference. In my opinion the 2 primary advantages of having clan parties are;
1. It allows your companions/family members to level skills.

2. It is more parties to call into armies.

As soon as I can afford it I always create max clan parties, up to 5 with a perk. I will call them all to my own army when I need to. It is a large force you can use and it does not require any influence to keep up cohesion.

The downside is, they will always be called to an a.i. army regardless of stance setting if they are over the 40% troop threshold. Sometimes, late game when small defeated faction lords are running around it is useful to set the party wages for them low. This keeps them small and increases their speed. If you keep the troop level under the 40% threshold they cannot be called to an army and will be fast enough to chase those small annoying enemy parties.

It is all personal preference but by late game I have more than enough family members to run around with 5 clan parties and 9 companions.

[Ruffio]

Good way to train future govenors,let them run a party for a while to get steward skills up.

[dichebach]

Originally posted by Ruffio:

Good way to train future govenors,let them run a party for a while to get steward skills up.

There are so many unanswered questions though.

Okay, so lets say you put an NPC "Hero" and a handful of troops into a party . . . lets say you put in 12 infantry 6 archers and 6 cav. Either all T2 or some T1 and T2. You tell them to be "Defensive" (because presumably that is how they are least likely to get their asses kicked), and you set their wage limit to "unlimited" and you let them loose.

If you are not a Kingdom, not a merc, and not a vassal, what are the going to do?
1. Go fight bandit parties?
2. Do they loot?
3. Do they level Roguery?
4. Do they "interact" with notables or other NPCs (and thus level Charm)?
5. So they definitely level Steward and presumably other skills like Scouting, and Riding or Athletics and weapon skills; but what about Medicine, Trade, Leadership, Tactics?
6. If they loot, do they then sell the loot and add that to the Clan bank?
7. Presumably they recruit troops (otherwise why would it have a slider for max wages). But how do they decide what troops to recruit and how to upgrade them?
8. Do they go to tournaments or settlements on their own and "visit" in some way the way computer controlled NPCs do?
9. Other than "Disbanding" their party, is their anyway to call them back to rendezvous with the main party, or to even just tell them: FOLLOW ME?

[dichebach]

Also! With the exact same outlines as above what if you were to just put an NPC Hero into a party by themselves, give them unlimited budget, defensive stance (and this is pre-Kingdom, not at war, not a merc, not a vassal): would they just go on a recruiting spree and fill up their party with recruits?

If so, then THAT seems like a real advantage to do in the period a year or two before you plan to form a Kingdom or maybe even when you plan to snag a rebel town = more troops available.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by dichebach:

Originally posted by Ruffio:

Good way to train future govenors,let them run a party for a while to get steward skills up.

There are so many unanswered questions though.

Okay, so lets say you put an NPC "Hero" and a handful of troops into a party . . . lets say you put in 12 infantry 6 archers and 6 cav. Either all T2 or some T1 and T2. You tell them to be "Defensive" (because presumably that is how they are least likely to get their asses kicked), and you set their wage limit to "unlimited" and you let them loose.

If you are not a Kingdom, not a merc, and not a vassal, what are the going to do?
1. Go fight bandit parties?
2. Do they loot?
3. Do they level Roguery?
4. Do they "interact" with notables or other NPCs (and thus level Charm)?
5. So they definitely level Steward and presumably other skills like Scouting, and Riding or Athletics and weapon skills; but what about Medicine, Trade, Leadership, Tactics?
6. If they loot, do they then sell the loot and add that to the Clan bank?
7. Presumably they recruit troops (otherwise why would it have a slider for max wages). But how do they decide what troops to recruit and how to upgrade them?
8. Do they go to tournaments or settlements on their own and "visit" in some way the way computer controlled NPCs do?
9. Other than "Disbanding" their party, is their anyway to call them back to rendezvous with the main party, or to even just tell them: FOLLOW ME?

They fight bandit parties, but they don't chase bandit parties that is faster than their own party. Party speed of parties also depends on skills of party leader. Also clan parties doesn't have a large number of horses as you have with your own.

I put all my clan parties on defensive, and I don't care about their spending. Battle loot I get cover for all such expenses regardless. You can give a companion party a lot of units of your choice, but next time you check on them a hour later they might have a bunch of riff raff units and your high tier units you gave them earlier is gone. So I don't bother much about that part either -) I figure they upgrade units over time.

They sell loot and prisoners, and it get added to the clan bank (your wallet). They can gain rogue skill from selling prisoners, and raiding villages. Party leaders wth mercy (and some other good traits) less prone to raid though.

Tactics skill is the deciding factor for how good clan parties do in battle. They are all simulated after all. Imho, Steward, Scouting and Tactics is best skills for a party leader.

[dichebach]

Originally posted by Ruffio:

Originally posted by dichebach:

There are so many unanswered questions though.

Okay, so lets say you put an NPC "Hero" and a handful of troops into a party . . . lets say you put in 12 infantry 6 archers and 6 cav. Either all T2 or some T1 and T2. You tell them to be "Defensive" (because presumably that is how they are least likely to get their asses kicked), and you set their wage limit to "unlimited" and you let them loose.

If you are not a Kingdom, not a merc, and not a vassal, what are the going to do?
1. Go fight bandit parties?
2. Do they loot?
3. Do they level Roguery?
4. Do they "interact" with notables or other NPCs (and thus level Charm)?
5. So they definitely level Steward and presumably other skills like Scouting, and Riding or Athletics and weapon skills; but what about Medicine, Trade, Leadership, Tactics?
6. If they loot, do they then sell the loot and add that to the Clan bank?
7. Presumably they recruit troops (otherwise why would it have a slider for max wages). But how do they decide what troops to recruit and how to upgrade them?
8. Do they go to tournaments or settlements on their own and "visit" in some way the way computer controlled NPCs do?
9. Other than "Disbanding" their party, is their anyway to call them back to rendezvous with the main party, or to even just tell them: FOLLOW ME?

They fight bandit parties, but they don't chase bandit parties that is faster than their own party. Party speed of parties also depends on skills of party leader. Also clan parties doesn't have a large number of horses as you have with your own.

I put all my clan parties on defensive, and I don't care about their spending. Battle loot I get cover for all such expenses regardless. You can give a companion party a lot of units of your choice, but next time you check on them a hour later they might have a bunch of riff raff units and your high tier units you gave them earlier is gone. So I don't bother much about that part either -) I figure they upgrade units over time.

They sell loot and prisoners, and it get added to the clan bank (your wallet). They can gain rogue skill from selling prisoners, and raiding villages. Party leaders wth mercy (and some other good traits) less prone to raid though.

Tactics skill is the deciding factor for how good clan parties do in battle. They are all simulated after all. Imho, Steward, Scouting and Tactics is best skills for a party leader.

Okay cool, so I seem to recall in older versions of the game, you could give or take soldiers from their group? (as long as you could catch them to interact with them) Is that still a thing?

[flyingscot1066]

Originally posted by dichebach:

Okay, so lets say you put an NPC "Hero" and a handful of troops into a party . . . lets say you put in 12 infantry 6 archers and 6 cav. Either all T2 or some T1 and T2. You tell them to be "Defensive" (because presumably that is how they are least likely to get their asses kicked), and you set their wage limit to "unlimited" and you let them loose.

If you are not a Kingdom, not a merc, and not a vassal, what are the going to do?

1. Go fight bandit parties? Yes
2. Do they loot? They convert battle loot directly into coin which goes into clan coffers.
3. Do they level Roguery? They take prisoners, and ransom them in towns, gaining Roguery exp.
4. Do they "interact" with notables or other NPCs (and thus level Charm)? Yes, but nowhere near as often as if they were simply placed in a town.
5. So they definitely level Steward and presumably other skills like Scouting, and Riding or Athletics and weapon skills; but what about Medicine, Trade, Leadership, Tactics? Yes to all except Trade.
6. If they loot, do they then sell the loot and add that to the Clan bank? See #2
7. Presumably they recruit troops (otherwise why would it have a slider for max wages). But how do they decide what troops to recruit and how to upgrade them? They take what is available, adhering to sme infantry/archer/cavalry balance that I don't know all the details about.
8. Do they go to tournaments or settlements on their own and "visit" in some way the way computer controlled NPCs do? Yes, in a limited fashion.
9. Other than "Disbanding" their party, is their anyway to call them back to rendezvous with the main party, or to even just tell them: FOLLOW ME? Not under the settings you have outlined, no. Only as kingdom leader or Vassal.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by dichebach:

Originally posted by Ruffio:

They fight bandit parties, but they don't chase bandit parties that is faster than their own party. Party speed of parties also depends on skills of party leader. Also clan parties doesn't have a large number of horses as you have with your own.

I put all my clan parties on defensive, and I don't care about their spending. Battle loot I get cover for all such expenses regardless. You can give a companion party a lot of units of your choice, but next time you check on them a hour later they might have a bunch of riff raff units and your high tier units you gave them earlier is gone. So I don't bother much about that part either -) I figure they upgrade units over time.

They sell loot and prisoners, and it get added to the clan bank (your wallet). They can gain rogue skill from selling prisoners, and raiding villages. Party leaders wth mercy (and some other good traits) less prone to raid though.

Tactics skill is the deciding factor for how good clan parties do in battle. They are all simulated after all. Imho, Steward, Scouting and Tactics is best skills for a party leader.

Okay cool, so I seem to recall in older versions of the game, you could give or take soldiers from their group? (as long as you could catch them to interact with them) Is that still a thing?

Yes you can do a quick "donate troops" and you can do a inspect troops where you can transfer troops and prisoners back and forth between their party and your own. When I lead an army of several clan parties I use to transfer prisoners over to the other clan parties, and I drop by villages to recruit troops I top off the clan parties with as they don't always that fast at do it themselves.

[dichebach]

Thanks guys!

[RJboxer]

Originally posted by Ruffio:

Originally posted by dichebach:

Okay cool, so I seem to recall in older versions of the game, you could give or take soldiers from their group? (as long as you could catch them to interact with them) Is that still a thing?

Yes you can do a quick "donate troops" and you can do a inspect troops where you can transfer troops and prisoners back and forth between their party and your own. When I lead an army of several clan parties I use to transfer prisoners over to the other clan parties, and I drop by villages to recruit troops I top off the clan parties with as they don't always that fast at do it themselves.

I dont think u can take anything from anyone anymore. I think they patched that out, 3-4 patches ago. When the scrubs started using and posting the "charm" exploit.

You can still GIVE troops, and sometimes prisoners. (dont do it while BOTH parties are in a town.. u must EXIT the town first).. But I do not believe you can take troops or prisoners anymore. I'm not 100% sure. But am 99% sure.

[Urmel]

like Ruffio sayd,
you can take troops in a town and village from other clan-partys.

i always take the high tier and give them the trash-troops.

edit: kingdom-police increase party-size. one give +40 for all clan-leader-parties with clan tier 5+ and one is +60 (?) for the king.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by RJboxer:

Originally posted by Ruffio:

Yes you can do a quick "donate troops" and you can do a inspect troops where you can transfer troops and prisoners back and forth between their party and your own. When I lead an army of several clan parties I use to transfer prisoners over to the other clan parties, and I drop by villages to recruit troops I top off the clan parties with as they don't always that fast at do it themselves.

I dont think u can take anything from anyone anymore. I think they patched that out, 3-4 patches ago. When the scrubs started using and posting the "charm" exploit.

You can still GIVE troops, and sometimes prisoners. (dont do it while BOTH parties are in a town.. u must EXIT the town first).. But I do not believe you can take troops or prisoners anymore. I'm not 100% sure. But am 99% sure.

You can do it anywhere even you are in army with them, or not. You start conversation with the party leader, say you want to inspect their troops, and you can start transfer back and forth. To open convo when in army, just click on their icon in the army window.